fordisforwinners

Hello, I have a 99 f150 w/ 4.2l v6 5spd and I want to swap out the engine. What are my options? I'm looking towards making it a decent mudder. So, a few other questions: stick with efi or go carb? I know id have to swap out a lot to go carb but I'm not worried about it, just means iget to learn. Should I also swap out the trans? Any input would be nice and helpful. I'm not the most knowledgeable in this subject but Ihave a fair understanding of a lot so if I'm missing any important information just let me know. Thank you.

TLB4

I hope the truck is at least a 4wd truck. If it's not, buy a new base truck to make a mudding truck out of. The motor mounts are different from the 5.4/4.6 to the 4.2 And the 2wd frame is a little different than the 4wd. So unless money is no option, get a new truck.

Switching to a 5.4 would be your easiest bet for more power. Because going back to a carb'd enngine would be a pain because you would have to basically redo all the electrical to get rid of the computer that makes these trucks run.

And how dedicated are you looking to go for this mudding truck. Full dedicated mudder, or like a daily driver with a few upgrades. Or somewhere in the middle? A project like this really depends on your budget.

kirklandkie

Someone here may correct me but i believe the transmission bolt pattern differs for the 4.2l so you'd have to get a replacement trans. good luck, i'll be following this thread (have 4.2 and am running it till it dies for a 5.4).

-Kirk

fordisforwinners

Oh yes its a 4x4 for sure. And full dedicated mudder. But there's no way at all that Icould keep my 5spd? I feel it'd dbe damn near impossible to find a 5.4 w/ a 5spd too...and Iknew about ripping out electrical stuff to go from efi to carb, just didn't know which one would yield more power in the end. I've decided to go for the 5.4 anyways so that's that. Money isn't too much of an option, I realize that its not cheap to do a lot of this hahah.

TLB4

The 4.6 F150 tranny will bolt up, but it wont hold up to the 5.4 for long especially if you're making it into a mud truck. So your only option for standard would be to get a zf6 manual trans from like a f250. And throw the engine / tranny in from something like that. Otherwise you're probably going to have to just stick with automatic. Which depending on your tire size might be a better idea as it would handle the torque better.

fordisforwinners

Alrighty thank you, ill be looking around for an f250 and see what I can get. Another question (not pertaining to the engine) its going to have a solid front axle, what's the best way to lift it?